Tears of a Broken Kingdom

Chapter Nineteen ~ She held Time in her hands

There was nothing Zelda could do to stop the tremors that had developed in her hands, her fingers knocked together like branches in the wind.

Her mind had been given time clear, and Zelda was beginning to regret her decision. Maybe some things were meant to be left alone, like the past. Leave it buried.

The instrument she had could do the unthinkable. Zelda could rewrite history if she so desired. And in a way, that was what she was trying to do.

She took out the ocarina before she could change her mind, a part of her now torn over doing this. Oh well, it was too late.

Zelda's hands continued to shake as she brought up the instrument to her lips. Her mind was scrambled from stress but she managed to remember the notes of the song.

It was quiet and still on the trail, and Zelda had found a little alcove that offered more privacy.

Zelda positioned her fingertips over the correct holes, trying to reassure her now shaken confidence.

The notes cut clear through the cold air, the solemn resonance of the notes seemed to boom in her head, finality setting in. There was no going back now.

A bright light came from the ocarina, it wrapped around her and Zelda felt herself getting pulled out of the little alcove in the rocks, all the feeling around her disappeared. It was liked she'd ceased to exist.

The only thing that seemed to exist was the blank whiteness that had consumed her, clocks appeared under her feet, spinning in an hypnotic motion.

Zelda had no memory of using the Song of Time, but she had used it before, in that other version of the future that had never come.

Time wasn't present and yet felt like an ever prevalent force, it was stopped and yet it felt like centuries had passed. She didn't know what was happening.

After what felt like eternity, although it must've been only a few seconds at that, the floor ceased to exist. There was nothing to hold on to, and Zelda felt weightlessness take over her, before she dropped into the abyss.

>*<

She came to, the feeling returned to her body.

Zelda wanted to keep her eyes closed. Wherever she was, it felt nice, the heat from the sun against her eyelids.

A growing suspicion took root in her and Zelda reached a hand out, feeling the silky grains of sand that sifted through her fingers.

With a start, her eyes shot open, temporarily blinded by the bright light that flooded her retinas.

So it had worked after all. The desert sun beat down her, no longer comfortable, it was an oven now. It was a good thing she'd had the foresight to wear something more lightweight and easier to move in than a dress. She had left his cloak on though, and it felt like she was slowly cooking it in. She remained dumbfounded on her back for a few moments, not knowing what to express of her mixed emotions. In the end, she stayed still with a blank expression, staring up at the hazy sky, trying to sort through her mind. She slipped the ocarina that sat in a hand back into her bag, worried she'd lose her grip on it when Zelda felt the strength slipping from her fingers.

Grains of sand gathered on her face from the wind, stirred up by some distant storm, migrating on the warm breeze. Zelda tried to work herself into getting up. She hadn't expected to be tired from the time travel, but her limbs and head felt heavy with exhaustion, like they were filled with rocks, and her neck had began to hurt again.

The soft wind attempted to coax her into a relaxed state, but the hot sand was becoming unbearable. Why wouldn't she move?

It felt like the desert was slowly swallowing her up, drifts of the stuff gathered around her tired motionless body, and she felt granules of sand in the corners of her eyes.

As Zelda began to fade out again against the blazing sand she felt herself be lifted off from the ground, the heavy cloak draped underneath her, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead and the nape of her neck. It was all warm.

Her head drooped in her exhausted state and rested on a shoulder, it had to be Link's. But she hadn't heard him come up, her preoccupied mind must've not even taken notice of his footsteps, silenced by the uneven desert surface.

"Link?" Zelda's voice was quiet and muffled against him.

He didn't say anything in response, but Zelda knew Link had heard her. He held her closer, an arm around her shoulder.

There was no question he was taking her back to the little makeshift camp they'd set up at night. Zelda worked out a lump in her throat, it took effort to swallow. The guilt was heavy on her consciousness now and she didn't know what to do. Her hands were curled up into loose fists, lingering near her neck.
It was almost too much to even touch him. The guilt was heavy upon her and she no longer tried to tell herself it wasn't her fault. That it was impossible. Zelda just assumed it was her's.

Zelda knew they had made it to the meager camp when she felt herself lowered onto the sand again. Zelda blinked up at the sky, saw her husband's look of concern.

Her head turned away, it was hard with her injury, not to mention the hood which was heavy on her shoulders.

She knew he'd respect her privacy, he was quiet about things of his own, but this truth was eating at her. It was the difference between his life and death, leaving him in ignorance of the future. Zelda was becoming less confident that she'd pull Link out of the grip of death. Torture and then death, that is. The thought was enough to bring tears to her eyes. Small tears that made her eyes glisten with a watery sheen, tears that ran down in thin rivers.

It happened before Zelda could stop it, and then she was sobbing. It was a desperate, heartbroken sound. There was nothing she could do but lie to him. Another lie. One lie that would lead him to his death... again. Why had she even come back? Her naïve dreams faded before her eyes.

Link's arms were around her and Zelda felt herself breaking further, shards with razor sharp edges. It was awful of her to do, but she let the part of herself that longed for Link win her internal battle. She cried into his shoulder, her arms thrown around him.

Link's hand ran through her hair, he was still silent. He was thinking. This was a dramatic shift from how she'd been before.

At some point Link began to hum softly for her. It was her lullaby, the one she'd been sung as a baby. His voice was quiet but it was clear, it was a comfort.

Zelda felt herself fading out to sleep again, her sobs quieted. A dull headache weighed under her eyes, and it felt nice for the world to fade out. For now it was gone. Just the soft tune remained in her mind.

>*<

Hey.

I decided to update. I'm close to being done with this monster, a few chapters left to write I think. I'm going to try and finish it up today or tomorrow.

I'm sorry I took such a break, I don't even know if I'm back.

I don't know how often I should update these last chapters, should it just be daily? And should I have a BTS??

I hope all y'all had a Merry Christmas and a good New Year! Yikes it's 2019 😬👏🤧😣🤠👌 (idk why I did that...)

Also sorry this chap is cringe tm. I wrote this so long ago smhhh.